


Sparks Fly

by CeNedraRiva



Series: Smile 'til your cheeks are burning [2]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Anal Sex, Desert Bluffs, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Meet-Cute, Physical Disability, Playful Sex, Praise Kink, Prosthesis, Romantic Fluff, Teasing, The Desert Otherworld, Wall Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:48:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22507324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeNedraRiva/pseuds/CeNedraRiva
Summary: Charles moved to Desert Bluffs to study a fascinating religion revolving around a dangerous god, not to find romance. Which isn't to say that he wasopposedto finding romance, or that he planned on letting romance slip through his fingers. Especially not when romance involved such a fascinating and beautiful radio host with the mostamazingeyes Charles had ever seen!***Or, Charles and Kevin's first date!
Relationships: Charles/Kevin (Welcome to Night Vale)
Series: Smile 'til your cheeks are burning [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550365
Comments: 16
Kudos: 74





	Sparks Fly

They first ran into each other by accident. Charles had been in town only a few hours and had stopped to grab a sandwich for Donovan at a little cafe when he ran into Kevin, quite literally. Kevin caught him as he stumbled, swinging them both upright at the same second a massive lightning strike struck the ground Charles had been standing on, leaving a giant fragment of lightning glass.

“A little bit of a shocking first impression,” said his strange saviour, and Charles snorted, turning to thank him. The words froze in his throat.

The being before him was shaped like a man, but there were parts that didn’t make sense. Most obviously, the eyes. Or lack of them. A black void stretched infinitely back from the surface of his face, like looking into another dimension. Flickering lights flew across the void like shooting stars, some spiralling like falling sparks. As Charles stared, they flared, little explosions within sending off glittering lights, but the longer the silence stretched, the darker they got.

Charles blinked, and smiled.

“I certainly feel a spark,” Charles joked back, and his saviour snickered, the lights in his eyes flaring up again.

“I heard there was someone new in town, but no one told me you were quite this pretty,” said the man with no eyes. Charles blushed, but pulled a face.

“A little bit generic, that line.”

“Ah, I apologise! Let me give you a better one!” The man hummed, making a show of slowly giving Charles a once-over, the path of his not-eyes leaving tingles on Charles’ skin (though possibly that was leftover static). “Your teeth look as regimented and musical as a Steinway, the perfect complement to your winsome jawline.”

“...alright, weird, but I suppose I did ask,” Charles said, a hand coming up to cover his mouth. His companion made a brief noise of disappointment.

“I could pour compliments on you all day and still not capture the essence of your beauty! Oh, but what a way to spend a day…” the other man said, and sure, it was a little over the top, but the wistful way he said it, the way the stars in his eyes were eddying to the timbre of his voice, as if this stranger really could just spend a day doing nothing but compliment Charles and consider it a day well spent—Charles knew his blush wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.

“Bold words from a man with such a charming smile,” Charles said. Said smile grew wider, accentuating the bright pink of healing scar tissue and the sharp lines of vibrant ink decorating them. Shifting patterns of sun sigils, dots and stylized insects that only seemed to enhance the scars rather than conceal them. Charles sort of wanted to trace them. “Are these tattoos?” he asked, fingers hovering above the stranger’s cheeks. One of the centipedes rippled, arching as if to try and touch Charles’ fingers.

“You like them? I only got them recently,” he said, nearly preening under the attention.

“They suit you,” Charles said, watching as several of the images merged into each other before reforming into something new. “Are you busy right now? I was about to grab a coffee, would you like to join me?”

“Inviting me out before even sharing your name? That’s rather rude of you,” he said, though by his smile and the way his eyes were swirling, Charles suspected he didn’t mind in the slightest.

“You’re right, that was rude of me. My name’s Charles. I’m a theologist.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Charles,” he said, and his voice was practically a purr. “I’m Kevin.”

“That’s where I know your voice from! Kevin from the radio!”

“The very same! You heard my show?”

“I caught the beginning as I was driving in.”

“Oh? What did you think?”

“You have a very captivating way of speaking. Is it true you’ve written stuff about the Smiling God?”

“You’re interested in our Smiling God?”

“The Smiling God is like, the main reason I’m here!”

Kevin bounced on the spot, his tattoos dancing, stars spiralling through the voids of his eyes. “We definitely have a great deal to discuss, then! And I would love to stay and chat, believe me, I very much I would, but unfortunately the weather has been playing on a loop for a few hours now and I suspect the other happy citizens of our dear township are beginning to notice.”

Charles wasn’t quite sure what the weather being on a loop meant, but Kevin did seem truly regretful about having to leave. Charles got out his notebook and began to scrawl something down.

“Some other time, then. Actually, it’s probably for the best because I have an appointment with my new landlord in like half an hour, and I want to talk to you for longer than that.”

“You’re moving here?”

“Yeah, I’m planning on staying for a while.”

Kevin hummed. “That’s good to know.”

“Here,” Charles said. Kevin looked surprised, staring at the little bit of paper like it was something completely foreign to him. “My number.”

“Your number?”

“Call me sometime.”

Kevin blinked (how was it a blink? He had no eyes, how did Charles know it was a blink?) and then a different sort of smile began to curl his lips. Smaller, and baffled, but quietly delighted, and Charles was immediately enamoured with it.

“I will.”

* * *

Charles had been driving along State Street when he heard Kevin begin the traffic report with a description of his car. It grew weirder—Kevin went on to describe exactly which street he was driving down just as he turned down it. Did Kevin have some degree of extrasensory sight?

He grinned when Kevin gave a completely made-up version of how they had met, but as Kevin continued on to something a little more earnest and a lot more heartfelt, Charles had to pull over. Few people had ever looked at Kevin with equivalent kindness? That couldn’t be true, could it? Kevin was so vibrant! How could anyone know him and not look at him with kindness? Yes, admittedly, Charles was new in town and didn’t know much about Kevin yet, but god, he was so eager to know him, and that was after only a few minutes of conversation!

He glanced to Donovan in the backseat—he was happily playing with his toy planes—and got out his phone.

_[Charles]: That was not at all how we met :lightningbolt: :winkyface:_

_[Kevin]: Creative license, darling! Also I thought it might be nice to keep those details strictly between us for now, or everyone would be jealous!_

_[Charles]: That makes sense, I guess_

_[Charles]: Are you offering to show me around town?_

_[Kevin]: If you_ _’d like! I’d be delighted to show you around!_

 _[Charles]: I_ _’d love that!_

_[Charles]: How are you multi-tasking so well? Texting me while saying something completely different on your show?_

_[Kevin]: It_ _’s a talent, really._

Charles grinned, staring at the car radio as Kevin kept speaking.

_[Charles]: I_ _’d really like to see you again._

_[Kevin]: :heart: :centipede: :grin: :lightningbolt:_

_[Kevin]: I_ _’d love to see you too! Are you free this evening? I could show you around and then we could get dinner! :spiderwithhearteyes:_

Charles barely had a moment to process that—a date? Tonight?— when Kevin on the radio announced the weather segment would begin, except instead of actually reporting on the weather, music began to play. Charles blinked, staring at the radio, and then his phone began to ring.

“Hi Kevin!”

“Hello, Charles. I’m not calling at a bad time, am I?”

“It’s a great time, actually. A lovely time. Perfect time to listen to you talk.”

Kevin laughed and Charles was grinning again, leaning forwards to rest against the steering wheel.

“You can tune in to my radio station and listen to me all you like, darling, while I remain utterly deprived of your mellifluous tones for hours on end! That’s rather unfair, don’t you think?”

“Mightily unfair. Although, I did sort of have the impression that if you were going to call anyone right now, it was going to be Mayor Mallard.”

“Oh? And why would I call her while there was still even the smallest chance that you might answer the phone?”

“That’s sweet, sunshine, but not really an answer. Weren’t you going to call her about the mudstone abyss?”

“Ah, that troubling business! Well, I’m multi-tasking again, you see. I’ve found it’s always much more effective to influence—ah, that is, to converse—with public figures in person rather than over the phone. I’ll be back at the studio before anyone notices I’m gone, I’m sure.”

Charles wasn’t so sure, but he let it go.

“Why did you start to talk about the weather and then music played instead?”

“What do you mean “instead”? The weather _is_ playing, isn’t it?”

“I… there’s a song playing?”

“Yes?”

“Instead of, I don’t know, saying that it’s a sunny day?”

“I’m sorry, Charles, I’m just not quite certain what exactly you’re asking me.”

“…I’m not sure either anymore.”

The song drew to a close, then the opening chords played again. The “weather” seemed to be on a loop again.

“Charles? Would you mind if I asked you a question too?”

“No, go ahead, sunshine.”

“This might be a bit invasive, but I would really appreciate it if you could answer honestly. You’re not currently in love with a man who looks remarkably similar to me, are you?”

“Um… that’s really more of an odd question than an invasive one.”

Kevin was silent for a moment, and then he said, “You didn’t see just then since we’re speaking over the phone, but I just shrugged.”

Charles bit his lip.

“You didn’t see just then because we’re speaking over the phone, but I just rolled my eyes. And the answer to your question is that I’m not currently in love with anyone at all, no matter how similar they are to you in appearance.”

“Oh! Oh, well that’s nice to hear!”

“Do you have a twin, Kevin?”

“Not as such… listen, I’m just entering City Hall right now so I’ll have to cut our conversation tragically short. Dinner this evening?”

It was tempting, but… Charles glanced back to Donovan and smiled. He really just wanted to have a quiet night and get properly settled. Desert Bluffs was going to be their home for the next few years at least and he wanted to spend their first night in Desert Bluffs with just the family, maybe even hold a seance so Donny could tell his friends back in Pine Cliff all about his first day in Desert Bluffs.

“I think I’ll still be settling in and moving boxes tonight. Most of this week, actually. How about Friday evening? Do you have evenings here? The sun keeps moving in weird ways.”

“Friday works for me!”

“It’s a date then!”

“Oh, it very much is, gorgeous!”

“I look forwards to it!”

* * *

They ended up texting back and forth for the rest of the afternoon and well into the “evening”. Turns out that Desert Bluffs only sort of had evenings and night. The sun would blink away, leaving the desert marginally darker, but still lit up with glowing lights that filled the sky in multicoloured glory. Charles texted that he thought they looked pretty. Almost immediately his phone began to ring.

“Charles, please do not look at the sky!” Kevin blurted out the moment Charles picked up.

“Uh, okay… why not?”

“The Coloured Lights will attempt to steal your essence and consume you. We’ve already lost five interlopers to them, and I’d very much hate to add your name to that list.”

“I see,” Charles said, placing a hand over Donovan’s eyes and drawing the curtains shut.

“You didn’t hear them speaking, did you?”

“Not a word.”

“Oh, good, they must be focusing on someone else tonight. That’s how they catch you, by whispering about lovely tempting things.”

“Like sirens?”

“Like they’re everything you’d need to make life bearable. Like they’ll forgive you your sins. Like you’ll never know a moment of loneliness or pain again.”

Charles swallowed, staring down at Donovan.

“Thank you for the warning, Kevin.”

“Any time,” Kevin said softly, before hanging up.

It was a pattern that would play out again and again over the next week. Charles texted Kevin often throughout the week, mostly with little updates about the moving process or questions about the town, and Kevin always responded within a few minutes. Charles was beginning to wonder if he ever slept.

Usually, Kevin’s responses were fairly cheerful, full of fun emoji and occasionally, bizarre advice. Charles actually thought Kevin just had a weird sense of humour, right up until all of the ceramics in his house developed fangs and began hissing when Charles was trying to make coffee. In another weird show of omniscience, Kevin sent him several worried texts and called up to check on him as the aggressive crockery moved in to attack. Luckily, they were still made of ceramic, so some swift hits with a shovel was more than enough to shatter them into harmless little bits. It was a shame, though. Those had been his favourite patterned plates.

Charles kept tuned in to Kevin’s show on in the background after that, just in case there were any more warnings about strange and dangerous local phenomena. And Kevin’s voice was really very lovely. Also, a lot of his show seemed to be about local landmarks, history, and interesting events scheduled for the week, which was a great way to learn more about Desert Bluffs. Although, he did wonder if “Desert Bluffs Landmarks Perfect For That First Date With A Gorgeous Interloper With Stunning Teeth” was a regular feature on Kevin’s show or something of a recent addition. It felt a little, uh, _specific._

When they weren’t unpacking, Charles explored the town with Donovan. Desert Bluffs was sort of built into the side of a mountain topped by a lighthouse, but the urban sprawl had begun to creep out onto the plains below. The house Charles was moving to was about midway up the slope, but off to one side and away from the town centre, and while it wasn’t a large place, it did have a yard and a nice kitchen and a room that would make a great office.

Moving to a new town was complicated, but almost everything was organised now. Charles had stopped by to tour the college campus and collect his faculty keys, ready to start work next week, then they’d gone on to visit Donovan’s new school. Donny had been quiet and clung to Charles’ leg, but his eyes had been big and sparkling when they saw the other children, and when they got back to the car he had been signing excitedly for the rest of the afternoon.

Plus, the teacher who’d shown them around had some good recommendations for babysitters, which had led to Charles having a lovely conversation with a woman called Grandma Josephine who was happy to babysit for a modest fee. The demons that hung around her property had been a little concerning, but Kevin assured him over text that they were mostly helpful.

And then somehow it was Friday, already late afternoon, and Charles was dropping Donny off with Grandma Josephine, who grinned and made a few comments that had Charles blushing and very glad that Donny didn’t understand innuendo yet, and then he was on his way to Kevin’s house—

An actual date! They had an actual real date! God, he hadn’t been on a real date in years!

He parked, then flipped down the car’s sun visor to check his reflection. No random bits of dirt or paint or tomato sauce on his cheeks or collar, thank god. His reflection grinned back at him and winked, which was a little odd because Charles hadn’t, but he put it out of his mind. Maybe all mirrors worked like that, with living reflections that were just really good at exactly copying your actions until they were feeling bored or supportive and chose to act independently. He didn’t know. He wasn’t a scientist.

Walking up to Kevin’s house, he saw his date already there on the sidewalk and dressed almost entirely in fur.

“Aren’t you hot?” Charles blurted out.

“Why, yes I am! Thanks for noticing, darling!” Kevin said with a sparkling smile, and Charles felt his cheeks grow warm.

“I meant like, physically.”

Kevin only grinned wider.

“Oh gods above, smite me now,” Charles muttered, hiding his burning face behind his hands. “Metaphorically speaking,” he added, glaring briefly at the sky, just in case any nearby god decided to take him up on the request. He still hadn’t forgotten the bolt from the blue that had first sent him into Kevin’s arms. The sky remained an innocent golden-green. “I meant, won’t you overheat dressed like that?”

“Are you suggesting I should undress? Because usually that comes at the end of a date and not the beginning,” Kevin said, reaching forwards to guide Charles’ hands away from his face. Charles let him, grinning sheepishly.

“Maybe I’m not that big on dating etiquette.”

“Maybe I like that.” Kevin’s smile grew gentler. “Your concern over my hotness is appreciated, even if it is unnecessary. I don’t really feel the heat.”

“Somehow I have a feeling you’d wear something like this whether you felt the heat or not.” Charles mused as they began to walk down towards the restaurants in the centre of town.

“Well, maybe I would, if it was in the name of fashion. I do like your style, Charles, especially those shin guards!”

Charles blinked, glancing down, and felt his blush return in full force. Yep. He was still wearing the shin guards from the little soccer game he’d been playing with Donny that afternoon. Oh god, he was a mess today! How did he forget the shin guards?

Kevin didn’t seem to notice his internal turmoil. Did he really think the shin guards were an intentional fashion statement or something? He had noticed people dressing in some very weird and wonderful ways throughout his week here, but surely this wasn’t… although there had been a few people wearing seatbelts as accessories…

“Thank you, Kevin.” Charles said. Maybe dressing like a mess was fashionable here.

They found their table with minimal fuss. Kevin ordered their food, because honestly Charles had no clue where to begin when it came to “lip meat”. Was it like, beef or pork, or from some weird creature he’d never heard of? What if it was technically a kind of plant? At this point, Charles would be completely unsurprised if lip meat turned out to be some kind of weird screaming mushroom. Desert Bluffs was just that kind of place.

“Since you’ve already asked to see me undress and thus thoroughly ignored first date conventions, would you care to break some others?” Kevin asked with a smirk. Charles—who had been watching the shooting stars crossing the voids of Kevin’s eyes—took a moment to process his question. He snorted, shaking his head.

“What is it they say? Never talk politics, sex, or religion on a first date?” Charles said.

“But they’re such fascinating topics! I could talk about any one of those things for hours!”

“Me too! I suppose it’s the controversy that surrounds them that makes them forbidden topics.”

“But isn’t it far better to air out controversial topics early on before you make any emotional investment? No nasty surprises years later when you find out your best friend would happily enslave the good citizens of your hometown in the service of a brutal corporate autocracy because she got dumped and was feeling lonely.”

“Okay, that is a very specific and somewhat worrying example—”

“Completely hypothetical, I assure you.”

“Is it?”

Kevin was silent for a moment, his eyes going darker while his smile grew more forced. “Let’s simply say that it would be a lot different here if it had been purely hypothetical, and leave it at that, shall we?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry—”

“Oh, don’t worry yourself so, Charles! It is part of our dear town’s history, if a little of a tender subject. I’m sure you’ve already heard oblique references to those events while you got settled into town, it must be so confusing without context! It all started—”

“Kevin,” Charles interrupted, taking his hand. “I can learn about the dark and brutal past of your hometown some other time, maybe. Right now I would really love to hear your opinions on politics.”

Kevin stared at him for a moment, and then his shoulders relaxed, an easy grin replacing the previous grimace as his eyes began to light up again.

“Yes! Politics! Now, my personal favourite political system is the theocracy. The perfect union between civic leadership and religious fervour.”

“Well I can’t argue that there haven’t been powerful empires built on that very concept, but I’m not sure I would want to live in one.”

“Oh?”

“Well, for one thing, I’m a theologist. My primary field of study is comparing various religious and spiritual movements to identify similarities and unique differences, and theocracies tend not to encourage freedom of religion.”

Kevin pouted, his eyes showing scattered red and blue star-matter.

“You don’t believe in the Smiling God?”

Charles took a moment to think things over, wondering if he should break the news that outside of Desert Bluffs and the wider Weird Desert region, no one had even heard of the Smiling God at all.

“It’s not that I don’t believe. It’s that I believe It isn’t the only god worth study, and it certainly isn’t a god that everyone would find easy to follow.”

Kevin sighed, shaking his head with pursed lips. “So you’re a Godless heathen.”

“And rumour has it you’re a God-chosen prophet.”

“Rumours can be misleading,” Kevin said, with a smirk. “But that one’s true.”

“That’s… theologically fascinating,” Charles said, leaning in across the table. “You wouldn’t mind if I asked you like, a whole bunch of questions about that?”

“You can ask me any question you like, sweetheart,” Kevin purred, mirroring Charles’ pose. He had the distinct impression that Kevin was fluttering his non-existent eyes.

* * *

“So I suppose that fairly thoroughly covers politics and religion,” Charles mused.

“Does that mean you’re going to ask me about my sex life next?” Kevin said.

“A gentleman wouldn’t ask.”

“Then, what might a gentleman ask?”

Charles quirked an eyebrow. “Who said I was a gentleman?

Kevin giggled.

They had long since finished eating, and were now working their way through their third glasses of non-alcoholic wine. They didn’t really have alcohol in Desert Bluffs, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. Kevin had told him enthusiastically about a particular cactus mezcal he’d had, back when the town was still under construction, but the secrets of its production had left with someone called Carlos, and the import tariff for bringing alcohol across dimensions was ridiculously high.

“Who was the first person you ever dated?”

Kevin hummed, his eyes sparkling as he leaned back to stare to the ceiling.

“His name was Spencer. We shared some of the same classes back in middle school, it seems so long ago now.”

“What was he like?”

“Oh, angry, often. He was very good at magic, top of our class in thaumaturgy. He wanted to change the world, make it into a fairer place, and he was furious that it wasn’t. And he was a rather good kisser.”

“I wish I could say the same for my highschool sweetheart. She was nice, but we didn’t really have that much in common. We ended up dating because we had even less in common with the other kids at school, and we were both young enough that it felt like that high school was the entire world. We sort of drifted apart once we graduated and realised there was more out there, though we did stay friends.”

“When Spencer and I broke up, things got a little explosive. There was fire. And broken glass. And rubble. And one of the classrooms was permanently closed down.”

“Oh my god!”

“I know! I couldn’t have asked for a more considerate breakup! We remained close for years! Completely platonic, I assure you, he fell in love with a train enthusiast and they got engaged, but, well… he doesn’t live here anymore. We lost contact.”

“Oh. Well, that’s a shame.” Charles frowned. Kevin looked sad again, his eyes darker, his fingers tracing patterns in the condensation that had dripped from their glasses onto the table. Circles and triangles, like suns. Like teeth.

“Was Spencer the first person you had sex with?” Charles blurted out, then winced. Subtle and flirty, not invasive and blunt! What sort of question was that? Did he even want the answer to that? Well, he did sort of want to know, but Spencer was obviously a sort of tender subject, and here Charles was, asking for more details when Kevin was already visibly morose—

Kevin giggled, his eyes sparking, and the sound snapped Charles right out of his thoughts.

“He was, though he certainly wasn’t the last! Oh Smile, we had no clue what we were doing back then. Working it out was pretty fun, though.”

“I can imagine.”

“Can you, Charles? Just how are you imagining me? Something scandalous, I hope!”

“If you were anything like myself at that age, then scandalous was only the start of things. Since then, I’ve learned all kinds of skills,” Charles said, grinning.

Kevin laughed in delight. “Oh, you must demonstrate for me sometime!”

“A demonstration would work best with a partner.”

“I volunteer.”

“I had hoped you would.”

They shared a smile, and the conversation drifted back towards less carnal topics.

* * *

It was late when they began to make their way back home. Charles walked alongside Kevin, watching him as they spoke, cataloguing all the amazing ways light flickered and changed within his eyes. It wasn’t random, he noticed. If he had to guess, he’d say the lights changed with Kevin’s moods.

He liked the way they’d flickered when Charles had taken Kevin’s hand. He liked the way Kevin’s thumb rubbed small circles into the back of his hand.

He liked Kevin. He liked him a lot.

Was it too soon to be thinking long term? Charles liked planning ahead, but it was only their first date. What did he really know about Kevin, other than he was an excellent conversationalist with a wicked sense of humour and the most amazing eyes Charles had ever seen and being near him was making Charles’ heartbeat go a little mad?

Kevin turned and grinned at him, a real smile that stretched and distorted the smile scars lining his cheeks. Charles promptly forgot how to breathe.

“Well, this is my place,” Kevin said, swinging their joined hands. Charles couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe, maybe with Kevin… it wasn’t love, of course, far too soon for that, but this spark between them was good, definitely worth exploring. And maybe it was a solid foundation they could build on together. Like lightning glass.

He wondered if Kevin was also thinking about the future. Probably not. It was only their first date.

“I had a lovely time with you,” Charles said, because it was true, and because it was a dating cliché. Kevin snickered, staring down at their swinging hands.

“Does that mean you’re going to give me a goodnight kiss?” he said, and his voice was in that sugary, mocking tone he’d been using all night while they poked fun at everything, but the lights in his eyes were swirling in that way they had when Charles had given him his phone number. Something more sincere. 

“Of course, honey,” Charles said, matching Kevin’s sarcastic tone and watching the way hope and excitement moved across Kevin’s star-scattered eyes. 

“Well, go on then. Lay one on me,” Kevin said.

Charles lifted the hand tangled with his own, and gently pressed a kiss against Kevin’s knuckles, smiling when he heard Kevin’s breath catch.

“Ohh,” Kevin sighed, and now his eyes were shot through with a purplish haze that complimented the flush in his cheeks. “Oh, well, that’s… Charles, you should try again, that’s hardly a kiss.”

Charles turned Kevin’s hand in his, and kissed the inside of his wrist. “Like this?” he asked, lips brushing against Kevin’s skin.

Kevin’s breathing hitched again, and the flush grew stronger.

“Not like that,” he said. “A goodnight kiss doesn’t belong on a wrist.”

“Where does it belong then?”

“The face, somewhere,” Kevin said, sidling closer.

“I see,” Charles murmured, brushing fingers across Kevin’s cheek and following the skin around to settle at the back of his neck. He leaned closer until he could feel Kevin’s breath on his lips and paused there. Kevin shivered.

Charles kissed his cheek, right on top of the scar tissue. Kevin breathed out heavily, and Charles could see him swallow, his hand squeezing Charles’ tightly. Charles kissed him again, and once more when Kevin made a frustrated noise.

“I feel like you’re purposely misinterpreting this,” Kevin said.

“Would I do that?” Charles asked, and kissed Kevin’s other cheek. Kevin pressed into the contact.

“Here, I’ll show you the correct way,” Kevin said. “Ask me to kiss you.”

Charles pulled back just far enough to stare into the void of Kevin’s eyes, which was currently glittering with what he could only assume was mischief.

“Kevin, would you give me a goodnight ki—” Kevin’s mouth was on his before he could finish the word. Gentler than Charles was expecting, but insistent. After a few moments, they parted.

“Ah, I see where I was going wrong now,” Charles said, a little breathlessly, before leaning in and kissing Kevin again. “Something like that?”

“You’re a quick learner,” Kevin murmured against his mouth.

“Glad you think so.”

They kissed again, and Charles’ eyes fell shut, surrendering to sensation. Kevin was an enthusiastic kisser, his hands tangling in Charles’ hair and Charles pressed closer, nipping at Kevin’s lip. Kevin gasped, arching into him and kissing back more frantically than before, and Charles would have grinned had his mouth not been otherwise occupied. He’d had just a _teeny_ hint of a suspicion that Kevin was into teeth and biting, what with the near constant compliments about his teeth—Charles shuddered as Kevin tugged at the curls by the nape of his neck, deepening their kiss until Charles could taste him.

“Come, come inside… with me,” Kevin said between kisses, and Charles was nodding, following him in before he could give it a second thought. The door swung shut, hiding them from the world outside, and Charles barely noticed because his hands had found a strip of bare skin at Kevin’s lower back where his shirt had gotten loose and Kevin made these wonderful breathless noises when Charles touched him there.

“Wait,” Kevin said, turning his face from Charles. “Wait, maybe we should—it’s our first date—”

Charles swallowed, his hands frozen on Kevin’s back.

“You’re right, yeah, it’s, um—we should—”

“—get to know each other better first. Something like that.”

“Yeah.”

For a moment, they didn’t move except to pant, staring into each other. Kevin bit his lip and nodded, removing his hands from Charles’ hair and backing away until he was on the opposite side of the room. Charles couldn’t really be certain what room it was. All that mattered was Kevin was there, on the other side, out of reach, his chest was still heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His hands, those clever hands, pressed flat against the wall behind him. Kevin swallowed, and Charles watched the bob of his throat, the hint of his collarbone, the arch of his neck. His eyes were bright, filled with luminescent clouds of space dust.

Charles could still taste him.

“So, um,” Kevin said, and he swallowed again. “You said y-you were at, uh… working at the, um—”

“The college, yes—”

“The one near the City Hall, hah… what’s that, um, like?”

“Dunno yet… my first day’s Monday...”

“Oh yes, of course,” Kevin said, biting his lip. Charles focused in on it like a laser, licking his own lips, which mere seconds ago had been against Kevin’s—

“Want to make out—”

“Please!”

Honestly Charles couldn’t tell which words were his or Kevin’s, they are already back together, Kevin’s mouth on his, and his tongue, oh his tongue—

He was so warm.

“B-bedroom?” Charles murmured, kissing down Kevin’s neck and revelling in all the little noises he was making, somehow Kevin’s hands were under his clothes, calluses and strong fingers dragging across his skin—

“Yes, this way, this way,” and Kevin was pulling at him, and there was a note of something desperate in his voice and Charles had to kiss him again. Kevin moaned loudly, stumbling as he tried to kiss back just as enthusiastically and walk at the same time. He swore, nearly falling, but Charles caught him.

There was a moment when all they could do was stare, then simultaneously they burst into giggles.

“I didn’t think you’d fall for me so soon,” Charles said, and Kevin laughed harder. All Charles could do was gaze into this impossible being and wonder about how lucky he must be to find someone like this. Kevin just—he just fit. Fit into Charles’ arms, fit against his body, like they had been crafted to meet one day.

 _First date, it_ _’s a first date, calm down, this is a crush, not your soulmate, it’s only a first date—_

“Want to go break another first date convention with me?” Kevin said, smiling, the echoes of laughter still writ across his face.

“Yes. Lead on,” Charles said, and Kevin did.

* * *

Charles had sort of been expecting that they’d end up using the bed.

Kevin had eagerly led him forwards by a hand, and they’d stepped through the doorway, and Charles had been staring at the shape of his smile, and then they’d been kissing again and time got a little hazy. Somehow they’d ended up against a wall instead of on (presumably) soft sheets, but that was okay. What mattered was how bright Charles could make Kevin’s eyes glow.

They were pulsing to a steady quick pulse now, one that matched what Charles could feel of Kevin’s heartbeat. Each new kiss sent new unnameable colours spiralling across them. When Charles bit along Kevin’s jawline, he swore sparks actually spilled into the air from the stars in his eyes. And when Charles kissed his neck, nibbling and sucking until there was a dark mark left on his skin, all the shadows in the room seemed to wobble.

“Is it you? Making the shadows go weird?” Charles asked against his skin. as he tried to remove Kevin’s shirt. This seemingly simple task was made infinitely more difficult by his handsy soon-to-be lover, who couldn’t seem to go more than half a second without having Charles’ mouth on him. Not that Charles was complaining. The enthusiasm was a huge turn-on, as were all those noises! A litany of requests and demands falling from Kevin’s lips—“Kiss me, yes touch me, there, oh there! Please!”—and uninhibited little gasps, whines, moans Charles could feel through his very body.

“Wha—?” Kevin said, his hands slipping beneath Charles’ shirt to roam across his back. “Oh right, yeah, probably.”

“You don’t know?” Charles asked, eyes falling to Kevin’s collarbone, which looked rather lovely and tempting and unmarked. Kevin shivered when he nipped at the bare skin, making wordless sounds of approval as Charles did it again harder. He grabbed Charles’ shoulder tight like he was worried he’d fall over again.

“By the Smiling God, your teeth!” Kevin moaned, his head falling back as Charles moved back up his neck, nipping and sucking. He whined, rubbing against Charles, who just chuckled. “You really are a tease, aren’t you?”

“You seem to like it,” Charles mumbled.

“Darling I adore it,” Kevin said as Charles pressed him into a wall. Kevin slid his hands down past Charles’ waistband, drawing him closer. “Fuck.”

“But maybe not right now?” Charles asked, and he lifted Kevin against the wall—

Kevin squeaked, then groaned as Charles immediately proved the benefits of their new position, rocking against him. Kevin wrapped his legs around his hips, arms going to encircle Charles’ shoulders.

“Better?”

“Fuck yes, keep going—"

“Like this?”

“Ahh! Yes, that’s—oh!”

“You close, babe?”

Kevin didn’t answer, tugging at Charles’ hair and whining, the shadows around the room spinning in dizzying patterns in synchrony with the witch lights in his eyes. Charles took that as a yes, and kept going. God, Kevin was like some bizarre, beautiful eldritch thing bending reality around him, something divine and beyond the comprehension of mortal minds, but somehow still so solid and real and genuine—

“Kevin!”

“Charles, yes!”

As it turns out, Kevin’s eyes could glow very brightly indeed.

* * *

“Well, that was fun,” Kevin said, leaning heavily into the wall. Honestly Kevin wasn’t sure his knees would work right now. Charles was an excellent lover. It had been a fantastic date. Would all their dates end like this? What if they moved in together, then each night could be like this! And they could have dinner together every night and Kevin could sit and stare at Charles as much as he liked and what was it like waking up next to him? Charles was so strong too, oh Smile! He’d held Kevin right there against the wall! Like he weighed nothing at all! What sort of pleasurable mischief could they get up to together with strength like that?

Charles was leaning against him now, his forehead resting on Kevin’s shoulder.

“You want to stay the night?” Kevin said, running a hand up and down Charles’ spine. He sighed, settling more heavily against Kevin.

“I shouldn’t…” he muttered, although he only pressed closer. Kevin made a disgruntled noise anyway.

“You’re not just going to leave after all that, right?”

Charles wrapped his arms around Kevin’s waist and made grumbling noises, and Kevin smirked.

“If I’m staying, I’ll need to make a call,” Charles said against Kevin’s neck, following up with a lingering kiss, and then another. Kevin hummed, and tangled one hand in Charles’ hair. He had such lovely hair.

“Are you staying?”

Sounding like it physically pained him, Charles drew back to stand just out of arm’s reach. Kevin watched him, still sprawled against the wall, shirt half undone and covered in the marks of Charles’ lovemaking. Charles appeared to be having some difficulties looking away. Especially so when Kevin arched his neck just so and let his tongue dart across his lips.

“I need to make a call,” Charles repeated. “I… I’ll be right back.”

Charles nearly ran from the room, and Kevin laughed. Oh, this really was fun. He’d nearly forgotten what it was like, that chemistry with a lover, those moments early on when you could barely get enough of each other.

He heard Charles begin talking in the other room, and sighed, picking himself up from the wall. Stripping the rest of his clothes away, Kevin climbed onto the bed, arranging himself in an artfully decedent lounge across the golden sheets.

Charles was still talking in the other room.

What _would_ it be like waking up beside him? Would it be anything like waking up beside Carlos? That had been a nice time, some of Kevin’s better sleep in recent years had been by Carlos’ side. Although, he’d never had sex with Carlos or slept in a bed with him, so it would probably be a little different.

How did Charles like his morning coffee? Was he a breakfast person? Kevin wasn’t, but he’d be happy to cook for Charles. Oh, he had to introduce Charles to the Lighthouse! She’d been teasing Kevin all week about his crush. It wasn’t that obvious, was it? Charles was just so… Kevin giggled, muffling the sound with a hand as he glanced to the doorway. Charles was fairly glorious. Insightful and clever and they’d spent nearly half their date arguing about religious iconography, and what would Charles think of Kevin’s favourite artworks at the gallery? What would Charles think of the Joyous Congregation?

Kevin traced fingertips over his lips. They still felt tingly, tender where Charles had bitten more firmly.

Charles walked back in, and Kevin opened his eyes, catching brief sight of Charles’ smile before it was replaced by an open mouth and wide eyes.

“Are you alright, Charles, you’re looking a little speechless,” Kevin said, stretching seductively.

“Is this payback?”

“For what, Charles?”

Charles quickly shed the rest of his clothes, moving to kneel half above Kevin.

“If I’d just come back in to say I was leaving, you would have made it very difficult to follow through.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, you tease.”

“Is it really teasing though, if I plan to follow through?”

Charles growled, swooping down to kiss him again. Kevin was happy to reciprocate.

* * *

This time, their kisses slowed into something deeper, and soon Charles was lying across the bed and staring into Kevin as they talked about all sorts of things. Mostly the desert. Kevin knew all sorts of interesting things about the desert. He had explored the whole region rather thoroughly some years ago, before Desert Bluffs was constructed.

“We ended up calling them Mantis Beasts,” Kevin explained. “You don’t see them often around here, but they’re fairly dangerous beasties, very difficult to kill. Carlos made all my prosthetics from Mantis Beast shell, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“Makes them super tough. And it looks pretty too.”

“They really are,” Charles said, admiring the way golden light reflected off Kevin’s false fingers. “Aren’t you going to take them off, though? They can’t be comfortable to sleep in.”

“I sleep while wearing them all the time! Carlos made sure that these ones aren’t even painful to wear,” Kevin said with a grin, but there was something off about his eyes, his stars moving in odd patterns. Charles frowned.

“I can sleep while wearing jeans and hiking boots, but that doesn’t make it comfortable.”

“Well… that’s not quite the same…”

“Are they comfortable to sleep in?”

“…not really, but sleep isn’t about comfort, is it?”

“If we’re sleeping in the same bed, I’d certainly like it if you were comfortable. You should take them off.”

“You sound like Carlos,” Kevin muttered, but he did begin to fiddle with the fastenings for his fingers. Charles watched closely, memorising the way to remove them.

“What, concerned for your physical comfort?”

“Yes! He was always going on about that stuff.”

“Good! I’m glad! Someone should! Maybe I should meet this guy.”

Kevin grimaced. “I’d introduce you, but Carlos decided to go live in _Night Vale_ , of all places. Night Vale! Honestly, and with Desert Bluffs right here and so beautiful too!”

“You miss him.”

Kevin was silent for a few moments, sitting up to remove his left foot and stump sock.

“He’s happier in Night Vale. He recently got married, you know. I couldn’t make the wedding, unfortunately, but, well… he’s happy.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess.”

Kevin hummed and nodded, settling back down into the bed. Charles reached out, running his fingers over the scars on Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin made a pleased little noise and took his hand, kissing each fingertip.

“Tell me about your other friends, sunshine,” Charles asked, and Kevin’s smile grew brighter.

Some time later, after the conversation had jumped through several other topics, Charles felt his eyes growing heavy as he let himself be lulled by Kevin’s lovely voice.

“—and it’s nice, you know, that you haven’t said anything about my eyes,” Kevin said. Charles blinked at the odd sentence, mentally shaking himself awake. He’d heard that wrong, hadn’t he?

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, the usual, you know.”

“No? I’m new in town, remember? I don’t know the usual anything.”

Kevin gave him an odd look, and Charles frowned. “Don’t you like people talking about them?”

“Well, no one particularly likes being insulted to their face over and over. No, actually I suppose some people do, but it’s different in that context anyway—”

“But your eyes are gorgeous.”

Kevin froze. Even the galaxies in his eyes held still. And then they all flickered out leaving only singular pinpricks of light.

“Now there’s no need to be mean.”

“Kevin, I’m not—Kevin, I’ve never seen anything in the world like your eyes. I could barely stand looking away from them for even a second all night.” Kevin was still frowning, so Charles reached out, brushing his cheek right along the border of the void. “It’s like there’s a whole universe inside you, spiralling light and fire spilling out in all directions. It’s mesmerising to watch.”

As he spoke, the lights were growing brighter again, that same purplish haze from before scattered with miniature white flames.

“You like them?”

“I think they’re amazing. You warned me about the Lights in the sky that steal your essence, but who in their right mind would give a damn about those lights if they’d seen your eyes? There’s no comparison!”

Kevin was silent, but his eyes were doing something complicated and colourful—

Suddenly Charles found himself on his back with Kevin above him, Kevin’s lips on his and urgent. Charles took a moment to catch up, but when he did he kissed back as best he could. Kevin seemed quite determined on stealing Charles’ breath away.

“You mean that? You… really?”

“Yeah, ‘course I mean it. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. I don’t like saying untrue things.”

Kevin whined and kissed him again.

“You mean it, you do, you like them! I can hear it in your voice!” Kevin kissed him again. “Charles, I need you.”

“Yeah, I can feel that,” Charles said. Kevin was hard, his hips making little rocking motions against Charles. He let out a heavy breath, eyes falling shut as he focused on every place he and Kevin were touching.

“I want you to fuck me.”

“You might need to give me a moment.”

“Charles, you like my eyes! Do you know how rare that is? I would give you an eternity to spend however you wished and be satisfied to have known you,” Kevin murmured as he kissed along Charles’ jawline. Charles huffed a laugh, though his heartbeat began to race. That was definitely a joke, right? People didn’t normally declare stuff like that on a first date, he couldn’t just read into things, even if Kevin was amazing and gorgeous and sexy, and—an eternity together, really?—and no one ever meant the stuff they said on first dates—

Kevin, oblivious to the nature of his internal thoughts, had begun to plant wetter kisses along Charles’ neck. It was rather distracting. Marvellous, really. Charles arched his neck to allow him better access, and Kevin gave a pleased little hum. At this rate, Charles wouldn’t need more than a moment, lack of a teenage libido be damned. Especially so when Kevin’s hands began to creep lower, strong fingers leaving metaphorical sparks beneath Charles’ skin as they went.

“Have I told you you have a lovely cock?” Kevin asked, shifting to hover above him. Charles snorted, quirking an eyebrow at his lover, who grinned widely.

“No, you haven’t said.”

Kevin gasped theatrically. “How could I have let such a delightful part of your anatomy go un-complimented so long? How will you know how much I appreciate it?”

“I can _feel_ how much you _appreciate_ it, sunshine.”

“I suppose you can,” Kevin said, his voice dropping lower. “You do have a lovely cock, and I can barely wait to feel it inside me. Would you like that? Being inside me? All that heat wrapped around you—” Kevin took him in hand and began to stroke him to full hardness, “—tight, and slick. Would you have me on my back? On my knees? Maybe like this, you on your back and me above you, riding you until neither of us can think of anything but pleasure.”

Charles shuddered, his hands gripping at Kevin’s thighs, while Kevin’s hand moved slowly, teasingly over his flesh. Above him, Kevin seemed just as affected by his own words, his breathing harsher, and his eyes, oh god his eyes—

“They’re like galaxies,” Charles breathed out, reaching out to trace Kevin’s cheekbone, and Kevin groaned, surging forwards to kiss him once more. The shadows around the edges of the room were acting weird again.

“You can’t just say things like that!”

“Why not? It’s true. Your eyes are like galaxies, and your smile is dazzling, and I can feel the strength in your body, and your voice! God, Kevin, I think I could come just from you describing things we could do together!”

“We’ll have to try that next time—Charles!”

“I want to see what your eyes look like when you come. I want to see what you look like when you’re too overwhelmed with pleasure to speak anymore.”

“Charles, please!”

Charles flipped them both, swooping down to kiss Kevin into the sheets. Kevin groaned, grasping at his shoulders, his legs hooking over Charles’ hips to pull them closer.

“Do you have lube?”

Kevin attempted to nod while still kissing Charles, and sort of succeeded. It was another minute or two before Charles thought to ask where Kevin actually _kept_ the lube, and another few minutes before either one of them was disentangled enough to reach over to the bedside drawers to grab it. Kevin whined for the entire twelve seconds they were parted, and when Charles’ slick fingers found the skin between his thighs, he gasped like a drowning man taking his first breath.

All the while, his eyes were spiralling in wild patterns, sparks floating free of the void to land on Charles’ skin as tiny motes of heat and energy.

“You’re so beautiful,” Charles breathed, and Kevin was shaking under his hands, grabbing his wrist and demanding— “-now, now, Charles please! I need you! Oh Smile, please!” —and Charles couldn’t deny him a moment longer.

Kevin fell silent as Charles slid into him, his head thrown back, mouth open in a mute moan, but the quiet didn’t last more than a second before Kevin was begging him to move, and Charles was more than happy to comply. They found a rhythm almost immediately. Each time he had enough breath to speak, Charles made sure to praise Kevin in some way, murmuring compliments like a reverent prayer.

_Your eyes are enchanting!_

_You move like you_ _’re the most dangerous thing in any room._

_Your smile is so pretty!_

_I love the gold paint decorating your scars._

_I can see you! I see you!_

_I can_ _’t look away._

Kevin reacted so beautifully with each word, his stars shimmering, his body arching like each syllable was sending electric pulses through his body. One of his hands was flung out above him, bracing against the bed frame with a tight grip—Charles gasped—that was actually twisting the metal out of shape! God, how, strong was he?

Kevin was making those noises again, the ones he’d made last time when he was close to coming, and Charles was glad because he didn’t think he’d last much longer—

Charles had sort of lost track of what exactly he was saying, only that he had to keep it up, keep saying lovely things for Kevin, until Kevin let out a sharp moan, bucking wildly, and Charles felt him spilling between them, felt him—

Charles only lasted a few seconds longer before joining him.

* * *

Kevin felt fuzzy. Floaty. He didn’t usually wake up feeling floaty. Usually, he went from unconscious to fully aware of his surroundings in a single second, ready at once to take any sort of necessary action. He didn’t wake up feeling floaty and unaware of everything but somehow still certain everything was fine.

Kevin blinked at the ceiling, before turning to the weight beside him in the bed.

“Charles.”

“Hey, sunshine.”

“Did I pass out?”

“Maybe a little bit. Only for a few seconds, half a minute at the most.”

“Sorry.”

“If anything, it’s a compliment.”

Kevin grinned. “Oh, you should definitely take it as such. That was easily one of the most intense sessions I’ve ever been part of.”

“Really?”

“Oh Smile, yes! How did you even work out that those words would do that to me? _I_ didn’t know they’d do that to me!”

“I’m observant,” Charles said with an indulgent smile, sliding his arm over Kevin’s waist. Kevin rolled onto his side to face him. “And you’re rather explicit about what you want, too.”

“I am, at that,” Kevin said softly. “Oh Charles, just imagine what it’ll feel like when we’ve actually practiced together a few times!”

“Are you implying we should go on a second date?”

“You infer correctly!” _And a third date as well, please. And a fourth. And a fifth. And a few more after that. Don_ _’t say that._

“I’d love to go on another date with you. Maybe we could visit that boardwalk you keep recommending during the Desert Bluffs Landmarks Perfect For That First Date With A Gorgeous Interloper With Stunning Teeth segment of your show.”

“O-oh… you heard that...”

“I do listen to your show, Kevin.”

“Right,” Kevin said, hiding his face in the pillow.

“Every day.”

“Okay.”

“That segment comes up a lot, Kevin.”

“It’s a very popular part of the show,” Kevin mumbled into the pillow.

“I certainly found it very informative.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I made a list. Places that sound like they’d be great date spots.”

“Oh!”

“Mmhmm. It’s quite a long list.”

Kevin peeked over to Charles, who was grinning and beautiful.

“I was wondering, Kevin…”

“Yes, darling?”

“Since I’m new in town and all, I was wondering if you knew anyone who’d want to visit all these great date spots with me.”

“Hmm, well, I can certainly name a few people who might be interested.”

“A few people, really?”

“Yes, but I won’t tell you any of their names. I’d much prefer to keep you all to myself.”

“How very selfish of you, sunshine!”

“I never claimed I wasn’t selfish, darling!”

Charles sighed, dramatically throwing himself onto his back like some tragic heroine. “It seems you leave me little choice, good sir! If I’m ever to see the wonders of this dear town, it must be by your side!”

“I solemnly accept this duty,” Kevin said with a sombre tone.

They both began to giggle.

The rest of the night was filled with more kisses and laughter, and some very comfortable sleep.


End file.
